Gurukul' method of
training is perhaps the most unique feature of our music and its
heritage. It may appear rather old fashioned if not primitive
to those students who sit around modern electronic wonder gadgets
like tape or video recorders and pick up their lessons. But truth
is what it is. Gurukul system presupposes that the students have
to be in constant company and guidance of their master whom they
serve in every way. As in the case of religion, it is only when
the master is satisfied with the earnestness and sincerity of
the student, then he imparts his power and the wealth of all the
feelings and realizations of his own Sadhana or practice. Between
the teacher and the taught the principle of give and take is only
this. The student can only offer his devotion and service, and
the teacher can let him have knowledge and truth. We can find
easily how a system as such can effect the total development of
a student both physical and mental under the strict vigilance
of the teacher who knows how to let the flower blossom. Sad to
say, for many many years this principle used to operate in a limited
sense and the great Ustads kept up a very secretive approach.
They would not let the student see the truth unless there was
any blood relation between them. Baba Allauddin Khan Sahib was
great in going against this current, and courageously proving
that our music is not a hidden magic but essentially a matter
of practice aiming at self-realization. He was not a musician
by family tradition. His life is quite a classic story of endless
tests and trials through which he found his way towards knowledge
and enlightenment. It is probably this background which bred such
a strong antipathy towards anything mean and narrow in the sphere
of teaching. He was a teacher incarnate with the purest vibration.
Any student, if really deserving, had from him the shower of his
blessings and by the sheer touch of his genius felt quite transformed.
Our much respected Sri Timirbaran, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, our most
revered Annapurnadidi, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Sri Pannalal Ghosh
are some of the brightest luminaries that Baba produced, and who
else but he could do it.

Many people raised one common question that how we could learn
sitar from an Ustad whose medium of expression was sarod. His
biography records many interesting accounts of his training in
veena, sursringar, rabab, surbahar and several other instruments.
This opened up endless possibilities of those instruments and
enabled him to assimilate and introduce a style of playing much
bigger in scope and dimension compared to which the old recordings
or other sitar playing sound limited. In course of teaching he
said to me one day, "I have decided to teach you sitar after
the style of Nawab Kutubudaulla Bahadur of Lucknow." He had
such an exhaustive idea about the 'baj' or style of playing of
every instrument that he could neatly distinguish between them
and combine them as well for the best conceivable effect.

A man is, in point of fact, inseparable from his ideals. To my
mind Baba Allauddin Khan Sahib was more of an institution than
only a musician. While staying at Maihar Baba gave as a life-style
very much like that of an Ashram or hermitage. As a person he
was simple, unassuming and completely devoid of egoism. He lived
a life with the minimum of necessities and always helped himself
to the best of his physical abilities. He washed his own clothes
every day. He had a strong aversion towards any kind of luxury
which, he believed, could only make a man materialistic and pleasure-loving
and not idealistic and sensitive. Maihar, as we all know, is a
place of extreme climate and it becomes unbearably hot during
the summer because of the limestone factories that surround it.
Once, his son Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Sahib bought an air-cooler
and took it to Maihar with the expectation that it might give
him some relief. But after a few days it was rejected with scorn.
Till the day he was unable to move, he would go to the market
to buy daily necessities and not let the students go there and
waste their valuable moments of practice. He was great in practicing
austerity in his own life and had therefore the right to impose
it on us. He was a disciplinarian and would never allow the slightest
deviation from his ideals of simple living, strict observance
of Bramhacharya during our stay at Maihar, a total withdrawal
of the mind from all kinds of superficialities, directing all
the energy to practice of music and concentration. In going to
enforce all this he had to keep up a certain hardness which was,
in reality, a show. Stories of Baba's severe scoldings, beating
with the bow of violin and throwing of tabla hammer are so common
that people are sometimes terribly mistaken to assume that he
was a kind of an old village schoolmaster lacking in any sophistication,
with only the ability to be rather ridiculously stern. But this
image of himself he deliberately projected in order not to allow
any liberty to the disciple. He always had the tension that soft
treatment on his part would only spoil them. One day I heard him
speaking out rather candidly, "Don't you see that I am a
grandsire? Don't I feel like taking them (meaning his grandsons)
in my arms-patting and loving them. But I am afraid it may spoil
them." Here was the inner voice which could be heard seldom
or never. Beneath the veil of toughness was the soft and tender
soul bubbling with humanity. We used to watch with wonder how
in different corners of his premises he arranged to set up wooden
pieces of shelter-racks to let the birds build up their nests.
At the time of his meals these birds would gather around him and
he enjoyed their innocent company. Whenever any Sadhu or saint
was around, Baba would give him God-like treatment, offering food
and clothing. He used to clean with his own hand the left-overs
of their food and never let us touch them.

I cannot resist the
temptation to narrate a couple of episodes which reveal Baba's
humanity. There was one woman who was mentally deranged and stayed
near Baba's house. In the evening she would frequently visit Baba
while he was engaged either in playing or teaching us. We even
noticed that various herbal medicines were externally applied
on her head to cool down her nervous system. This lady would keep
her head on Baba's lap and while listening to music fell asleep.
The stern teacher never felt disturbed but rather compassionately
said "Ah, what a pity that she suffers so much! Let her have
some rest at least!" Other than those who witnessed this
scene, how can anybody recognize what he actually was!

Once in the market at Maihar he watched a person sitting out rather
dejected in a corner with a number of dholaks to sell but not
heeded by anyone. He was touched so much so that he took up one
dholak and started playing. The result was obviously a crowd around
him. Many of them were throwing coins and a few dholaks (folk
drums) were sold out within a short time. Baba saw that some money
were collected. He gave it all to the dholak-seller and went home
happy.

About religion Baba was very broad-minded. When he used to have
his daily prayer or Namaz he would ask me to go into my room and
have my 'Gayatri' Yapa. Some of the habits and practices he suggested
got so firmly riveted into my mind as 'mantras' or sermons. He
would say, "Whenever you are giving a performance, meditate
on your Guru first and then you will see that he takes you over
and carries you through. Whenever you play a Raga, begin with
worshipping and welcoming it. Imagine it to be deity. Bow down
and pray that it should have mercy on you and it should become
alive through your medium. Never approach a raga with a feeling
of pride or vanity in your heart. Music grows out of the purest
feelings of your soul and hence the mind of the musician, if only
purified, can produce the vibration." Baba's behavior on
the stage sometimes became rather erratic. But this was only the
result of a certain tension and apprehension that he might fail
to establish the raga. I saw him many times uttering Namaz and
even crying out "Ma, Ma" to Goddess Saraswati. This
appeared strange to people. But I had the most glorious experience
to hear the same person playing sursringar to himself in Maihar
with all the serenity and calm of mind. I still remember that
after a couple of minutes it seemed too much for me. The emotional
appeal was so tremendous that my entire being was gone to pieces,
senses suspended and it was a trance all over. Anyone who heard
him there could realize how great a Naad (Sound) Yogi he was.

There was a very old temple on top of a hill at Maihar known as
the temple of Saradamai. Pilgrims came there from far and near
and surprisingly enough they would come to see Baba straight from
the temple. To the poor common people of Madhya Pradesh who knew
nothing about music, Baba Allauddin Khan Sahib was sort of a Sadhu-a
noble soul and they used to call him "Baba" in that
sense. People of Maihar loved and honored him like anything excepting
the Muslim community, who did not quite approve of his liberal
views on religion. After his death they at first refused to carry
him for burial. There was a storm of controversy. But at the end
we saw that the burial procession was being attended by the Hindus
and Muslims alike and even the chief priest of the temple of Saradamai
joined. It was a marvelous spectacle! Baba can be compared to
Sant Kabir whom both the Hindus and Muslims claimed to have belonged
to their community. I would rather say that like Sant Kabir he
was far above these social distinctions. He was a great Naad Yogi.